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How Hillary Clinton and Boeing built a close relationship: Oregon Politics today

Hillary Clinton at Keller Auditorium

Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Secretary of State, US Senator, and First Lady, gave the keynote address to the World Affairs Council's "Women Changing the World," speakers series last week at Keller Auditorium.
(Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian)

In part, the close working relationship is expected. American officials typically tout trade deals that benefit American producers -- and Boeing is America's last maker of commercial jetcraft. As such, Boeing has spread past its traditional base in the Seattle area to include facilities around the country, including an 1,800-worker plant in Gresham that produces airplane components.

But Clinton is not just a former secretary of state, of course. She's the odds-on favorite for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination -- assuming she wants it -- as well as a former First Lady and senator. When she comes calling for help, the company has a lot of reasons to say yes.

The Post noted that Boeing has contributed money for the William J. Clinton Foundation to rebuild schools in Haiti and Tim Keating, a former Bill Clinton aide who is now a Boeing lobbyist, last month "co-hosted a fundraiser for Ready for Hillary, the super PAC backing her potential presidential run."

Here are some other Oregon-related stories in the national political press in recent days:Jason Conger in Wall Street Journal

The Journal article is beyond a paywall, but this provides a sense of it:

The Washington practice of intervening in Senate and House primaries, privately or publicly, is hardly a new one. Incumbents are routinely backed by party campaign committees. But intruding in challenger contests or races for open seats is controversial, especially when Republicans in Washington insist—as they do in supporting Ms. Wehby—that a less conservative candidate is more electable.

This was famously the case in Florida in 2010. The National Republican Senatorial Committee rushed to endorse then-Gov.Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio, his conservative rival for the Senate. It backfired. Mr. Rubio soared past Mr. Crist, who quit the GOP and ran (and lost) as an independent. Mr. Rubio won the Senate seat. This year Mr. Crist is running for governor as a Democrat.

Barnes goes on to note that Wehby has built a strong fundraising lead over Conger that gives her a clear advantage in the May 21 primary.

Art buyers love Oregon

Washingtonians who drive across the Columbia River to buy goods and services in Oregon aren't the only ones taking advantage of the state's lack of a sales tax.

Here's how it works. Say that you are a California resident who buys a multi-million-dollar painting at a fancy New York auction. If you simply bring the painting home, you're liable under California law to pay a "use tax" that is generally equivalent to the sales tax (technically speaking, Washingtonians are also liable for use taxes for goods back from Oregon, but if they carry them home themselves, who is going to know?).

The Times explained that if that California resident first displays the painting in Oregon, it is considered "used" in that state and no longer subject to California taxes.

The Portland Art Museum and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon campus are reportedly two big beneficiaries of these tax laws.

The Portland museum recently displayed a Francis Bacon triptych, "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," after it was sold in New York for $124 million. The buyer was reportedly Elaine Wynn, former wife of Las Vegas casino mogul, Steve Wynn. She didn't talk to the Times and the paper says it is unclear if she will use the tax break.